PRESIDENT Dr Irfaan Ali on Thursday restated his government’s commitment to inclusive development, declaring that national progress must be measured by how well society protects and uplifts its most vulnerable citizens.
The Head of State made this known while speaking at Thursday’s opening of the Yas School of Inspiration at Crane, Region Three, during which he said, inclusion is not a peripheral policy objective but a core principle guiding his administration’s development agenda.
“The government that I lead has entered a covenant with every Guyanese child, every family facing hardship, every citizen waiting for their moment to blossom,” President Ali said.
He went on to add that his administration has pledged to build “a Guyana where development is everywhere, for everyone.”
He described this approach as a daily discipline and said that it serves as the promise that guides every policy and is the ‘yardstick’ by which progress is measured.
Dr Ali stressed that national prosperity must extend beyond economic growth and physical infrastructure, warning that development which excludes marginalised groups ultimately undermines social stability.
“We have vowed to build a society that protects the marginalised and empowers the differently abled,” he said.
“We have promised that in this era of unprecedented national prosperity, ‘no one would be left on the sidelines; all would be carried forward in the rising tide.’”
According to the President, inclusion is central to the country’s national plan which seeks to dismantle longstanding systems of neglect while creating opportunities for all citizens.
Against this backdrop, he highlighted that the school serves an integral part of a national plan and a vision that spans from the hinterland to the coastland, from the youngest child to the most senior elder and from the able-bodied to those requiring unique support.
He said the government is, “dismantling the architecture of neglect and constructing, in its place, an ecosystem of opportunity,” positioning social investment as a deliberate policy choice rather than an act of charity.
President Ali also linked Guyana’s growing oil wealth to a responsibility to ensure equitable outcomes, arguing that economic gains must translate into tangible improvements in citizens’ quality of life.
Further to this, President Ali indicated that this project is proof that the country’s wealth is being used as a pipeline of hope into every home and is further proof that the partnerships established are not just for trade balances but for balancing the scales of justice and opportunity.
The President rejected the notion that national success should be defined by visible wealth concentrated among a few, stating that true prosperity must be felt broadly across society.
“Our blossoming era,” he said, should be one “where prosperity is not evinced by a glittering and towering skyline seen by a few, but a fertile ground felt by all.”
To this end, Dr Ali framed inclusion as a moral imperative, stating, “A nation cannot build true and lasting greatness unless it consciously uplifts its most vulnerable citizens because the very foundation of greatness is moral integrity and unified strength.”
